From: bellydancergirl7@aol.com   
      
   Title: Destiny Ignited   
      
      
      
   Author: sitarra   
      
      
      
   Email: bellydancergirl7@aol.com   
      
      
      
   Rating: PG-13   
      
      
      
   Category: MSR, AU   
      
      
      
   Disclaimer: I own nothing. The title belongs to Aida, as does the   
   summary. Borrowed some lines from The Unnatural.   
      
      
      
   Setting: WW2   
      
      
      
   Summary: "This is the story of a love that flourished in a time of   
   hate… destiny ignited by an act of war."   
      
      
      
   A/N: I've taken a creative license with some of the information.   
   Some things I simply changed around. The 501st paratrooper infantry is   
   real but they were based in Georgia. I had a great grandpa who was   
   actually in the middle of the Battle of Jutland and that's why I   
   choose to use it.  The SS Normandie sunk in a New York dock in 1942 but   
   I'm using it anyway. Also, pay attention to the dates. Any spelling   
   errors are my own. I know it's bad but I just hate rereading it.   
      
      
      
   This story is my latest pride and joy. It is the longest single chapter   
   story I've done and I'm quite proud of myself. I'm   
   considering it a short novel.   
      
      
      
   Thanks: Thank you to 2shy the Shippy for unknowingly finally getting me   
   back to writing and thinking up something I think makes the entire   
   story.   
      
      
      
   XXXXXXXXXXXXXX   
      
      
      
   April 22, 1944—on a train to Boston   
      
   Saturday   
      
      
      
   Mulder watched the scenery pass by from his seat. He popped another   
   sunflower seed in his mouth, cracking open the hull with his teeth. He   
   had missed the sight of his native countryside. He'd been in Pearl   
   Harbor helping get everything back in order for the last three years.   
   He'd been baffled by the sight, all of the death and destruction   
   around him. Men were dying left and right and he couldn't do a damn   
   thing about it. He had helped rescue those men that were trapped, the   
   lucky few that had actually lived. He'd seen enough death to last   
   him a lifetime and the war wasn't even over yet.   
      
      
      
   "They can make bombs that can blow up entire cities but they   
   can't make bigger bathrooms on trains," William Scully   
   complained, sitting back down in his seat across from Mulder.   
      
      
      
   Mulder smiled at the older man, a man he looked at as a father.   
   "It's amazing, isn't it?"   
      
      
      
   William didn't answer. He observed the younger man across from him.   
   He'd taken a liking to the quiet man at Pearl Harbor. Mulder has   
   been put under his command and in no time at all, Bill saw the man as   
   another son. They shared war stories at first before moving to more   
   personal subjects, gaining each other's trust. They looked out for   
   each other, and that was important in a war as bloody as the one they   
   were in the middle of.   
      
      
      
   "Did I ever tell you about the Battle of Jutland?"   
      
      
      
   Mulder glanced over at his companion, the answer written in the   
   confusion on his face.   
      
      
      
   "I was seventeen," he began. His eyes darted to the front of the   
   cabin. "I was working on a fuel tanker during World War 1. There was   
   a German destroyer coming up on our left followed by the entire fleet.   
   Moments later, the English fleet came up on our right. We were trapped,   
   practically in the middle. It was a horrible sight. To this day,   
   I've never seen anything life it, not even Paine's Fire Works.   
   Only about thirteen ships were lost on each side. I saw firsthand a   
   German cruiser sink an English ship, savagely ripping its side open.   
   Moments later that same was sunk the exact same way. At about eight   
   o'clock, after everybody thought the battle was over, we saw the   
   flagship Queen Mary go down with 1,300 men on board. It was the most   
   terrifying spectacle we'd seen. There's even a legend that one   
   man escaped but nobody has ever seen him. We didn't even know what   
   the battle was about."   
      
      
      
   Mulder was silent for a moment, popping another sunflower seed in his   
   mouth before he finally said, "I'm sensing a moral to that   
   story."   
      
      
      
   William smiled. "That's what I like about you, son. You see   
   right through things. Yes, there is a moral. I'm saying the Germans   
   are tough. They have the best…"   
      
      
      
   "But they don't have the heart," Mulder finished for him.   
   William clapped him on his knee.   
      
      
      
   "Now you're getting it."   
      
      
      
   XXXXXXXXXXXXXX   
      
      
      
   June 3, 1944   
      
      
      
   He left me today. I don't know when I'll see him again. If   
   I'll see him again.   
      
      
      
   I couldn't stop myself from crying. He pulled me off to the side,   
   away from mom and Ahab, so he could talk to me privately before his   
   train left. He gave me his dog tags, to "keep me close to your   
   heart" he told me. Call me foolish, but it was the most romantic   
   thing he's ever said to me. He told me he loved me only seconds   
   later but by that point, I was sobbing too violently. Well, maybe not   
   violently, but either way, I couldn't stop. The love of my life was   
   about to go off to war…   
      
      
      
   XXXXXXXXXXXXXX   
      
      
      
   2:00 pm—Grand Central Station   
      
      
      
   Mulder fussed with his jacket, pulling at the lapels unnecessarily. He   
   glanced down to make sure his buttons were polished and in the correct   
   places. He hadn't been in his uniform for a while. It felt foreign   
   to him.   
      
      
      
   He heard a laugh from beside him. He quickly stopped his own inspection   
   and put his hat on. He took his bag from the older man and shot him a   
   look.   
      
      
      
   "No need to be nervous, son," William assured him. "They   
   know you're accompanying me. I'm positive they'll like   
   you."   
      
      
      
   "I'm not nervous," Mulder denied. "I'm just   
   anxious."   
      
      
      
   "Well, either way, you have nothing to worry about."   
      
      
      
   They began to make their way from the train. "So tell me more about   
   your family. I can't spend the next two months with complete   
   strangers," Mulder lightly joked.   
      
      
      
   "My oldest you already know. Melissa is my oldest daughter.   
   She's engaged to a businessman and she's your age. My other   
   daughter, Dana, is two years younger than you and still in school   
   training to be a nurse. My youngest is Charlie. He's two years   
   younger than Dana. He wants to enlist but I flat out wouldn't let   
   him. That and he's still too young."   
      
      
      
   "What about your wife?"   
      
      
      
   A smiled brushed across the mouth of the aging man. He pointed to   
   something in front of them. Mulder followed his hand, only to see a   
   woman running towards them. William glanced over at his friend.   
      
      
      
   "She's amazing."   
      
      
      
   William barely had enough time to set his bag down before his wife flung   
   herself in his arms. He wrapped them tightly around her, holding her   
   close to him. He inhaled deeply, her familiar scent assaulting his   
   senses. He hated every minute he was away from his family, but he loved   
   his job. He wouldn't trade either one of them for all the money in   
   the world.   
      
      
      
   Behind him, Mulder watched the scene with a faint smile on his face. He   
   used to wonder if marriage would ever happen for him. He was only   
   twenty-one; he had his whole life in front of him.   
      
      
      
   But the reality was he could die the next day if it was meant to be. He   
   wasn't in active duty at the moment but in only a few short   
   months…   
      
      
      
   A flash caught his eye. It was a brilliant shade of… There it was   
   again! Red, it was a beautiful shade of red. It was coming his way. Oh,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)